Now that we're letting the guys back in the store, we've got a new build for Aisle 1! And it's terrific!

I'm one of the smartest men in the world, but I'm acting like a neanderthal. A frightened caveman whose only method for expressing pain... is pure unadulterated rage. Is that who I really am? - Mr. Terrific

COMPLICATIONS:Guilt: The accidental deaths of his brother, wife and unborn child still weigh heavily on Mister Terrific’s mind.Prejudice: His well-documented Atheism puts him at odds with people at times.Relationships: Karen Starr, his assistant Aleeka, and his protégé (gotta find that kid's name…).Responsibility: To his company, Holt Industries and to making the world a better place through science and technology.Rivalry: All are generally good natured, but he has business rivalries with Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark, and superhero rivalries with Batman, Iron Man and Hank Pym.

Build Comments: My Earth-217 take on Michael Holt incorporates his iconic version with his New 52 version which had loads of potential, but didn’t pan out. I bought the first arc and it was OK, but it could have been SO much better.

On Earth-217, he's still one of the smartest men in the world (probably not #3 with Reed, Doom and Lex ahead of him), one of the most successful and one of the most eligible bachelors. He's one of the leaders of the Initiative, the revamped superhero training program and he helps out with the Justice League when needed.

Secret Origins: At a young age, Michael Holt showed remarkable intelligence, reading and assimilating the works of Bohr, Einstein, Planck and Feynman, the pantheon of theoretic physics, at the age of six. He studied advanced science, space and time "while other children struggled through Sesame Street."

Holt displayed as he called it, "a natural aptitude for having natural aptitudes," easily picking up and retaining complex skills and abilities that other men spent their entire lives perfecting. Before he began his career as a superhero, he already possessed 14 Ph.D.’s (two in Engineering and Physics -- including assorted doctorates and masters in degrees in Law, Psychology, Chemistry, Political Science and Mathematics). He was a self-made multi-millionaire with a high tech firm called Cyberwear (later Holt Holdings Inc.) and was a Gold-medal winning Olympic decathlete.

While contemplating suicide after the death of his mentally retarded older brother and the accidental death of his wife and unborn child, Holt was met by the Spirit of God's Vengeance, known as the Spectre (ironically, Holt is an atheist), who told him about Terry Sloane, the Golden Age superhero known as Mister Terrific. Inspired by Sloane's life story he took the name Mister Terrific and later joined the current Justice Society of America, eventually serving as its chairman.

The Story so Far: For a time he acted as spokesperson for Tylerco and consulted that company on industrial espionage and security matters in exchange for that company helping fund a youth center Terrific had started.

During a conflict over leadership of the Justice Society between former chairman Hawkman and then-current chairman Sand, Terrific was elected as the JSA's new chairman by his teammates, despite not actively seeking the office. He served in this capacity until the team disbanded following the Infinite Crisis.

Mr. Terrific was part of the team assembled by Batman for an attack on the Brother Eye satellite responsible for controlling the OMACs. He played a critical role as his invisibility to technology allowed him to reach the satellite's propulsion system, sending it crashing to Earth. On this meeting he met and befriended another African American superhero - Black Lightning.

After the Civil War event Holt became a leader in the JSA Initiative. Mr. Terrific has also established an ill-defined mentorship with the latest Firestorm, Jason Rusch.

Characterization: Michael Holt is one of the smartest people in the world, a brilliant inventor and the second super-hero to call himself Mister Terrific. He is the successor to Terry Sloane.

Holt is described as having "a natural aptitude for having natural aptitudes;" picking up complicated skills quickly and retaining them, such as performing emergency surgery on teammate Alan Scott after reading about the procedure in a medical text book. As Holt himself put it, "everyone has a talent...Mine is learning."

Holt is an atheist. Though well aware of and having witnessed much of the mystical nature of the universe firsthand, he cites scientific and rational explanations for all of it. He described souls as "a unique energy that could quantify as a telepathic discharge upon death.

Friends and Foes: Holt has a friendly rivalry with Batman, considered his opposite number in the Justice League. Also, Michael Holt has encountered Terry Sloane twice through time travel, with Sloane expressing pride in having so worthy a successor. Holt has been noted as the most intelligent member of the JSA in its history, surpassing his predecessor.

He and Power Girl have had an off-and-on romantic relationship and he has also dated Sasha Bordeaux.

COMPLICATIONS:Patriotism: He's a longtime soldier and strongly believes in the ideals of duty and his countryRelationships: He dearly loves his mother, and is close to Tony Stark, Pepper Potts and John Henry Irons

Comments: Good old Rhodey. He’s been around a long time and I really liked his solo series from a couple of years back during Dark Reign. I kind of built him in his Iron Man 2.0 armor, at least what I could gather from the Wikis. This armor allows him to go invisible and phase through objects, but he can’t do either and use his weapons, so it fits perfectly in his array.

I am considering raising him to PL12 to match Tony since this armor, and his recent armor have had him pretty much at Tony's level, really, but I stuck with this for now since I suppose Stark should have some edge. He would never seem to be the type to give his best stuff away, even to his best friend.

Last edited by Thorpacolypse on Sat Oct 13, 2012 9:07 am, edited 1 time in total.

JoshuaDunlow wrote:Nice stuff thorp.. Big question is , how are oyu handling Impervious. The way it was in 2E? Cause I noticed you generally have low levels of impervious.

Yep. In the 3E RAW, Impervious 6 would only take out 3 ranks of damage, but I am just stating like 2E where Impervious 6 takes out 6 ranks of damage but costs 2 pts per rank like 3E does. I thought the RAW was confusing.

Yeah, the wording used for 3e's Impervious is completely confusing- I had to re-read it like three times to "get it", and even then I backcheck every few months out of fear I've screwed something up. It's basically "costs 2 points per 1-point negated, minus 1 if you have a fraction". It's the only power in the game that works that way.

For this short special, we're turning the clock back to a simpler time. Yes, a time before everyone had a cell phone...when a little show called the X-Files ruled the geek landscape...and when people actually could say Joey Lawrence was cool. And the greatest invention of all time was brought to life:

Internet porn...

So put on your flannel shirts and crank up the Nirvana as we implore you to ALL HAIL THE 90'S! That's right, we've got a run of characters that ruled the Iron Age of comics! To kick us off, check out this BLACK LIGHT SPECIAL on Aisle 2!

COMPLICATIONS:Addiction: Flash faces a constant battle of giving into the symbiote completely. He generally maintains control, but he can't let it goDisability: Without the symbiote, Flash lost his legs below the knee in the Iraq WarEnemy: Carnage, Anti-Venom and the symbiote sees Spider-Man as an enemy even though Flash doesn'tPatriotism: Flash is a decorated soldier and he truly believes in honoring and defending his countryPower Loss: Without the symbiote, he loses all powers and his abilities drop to STR 3, STA 3, AGL 0, FGT 6Relationships: He is close to his high school friends and his girlfriend, Betty BrandtTemper: If Flash loses his temper, Flash has to make progressive Will checks starting at DC15 to remain in control of the symbiote. If he fails, the symbiote can take over, changing him into a murderous beast (stat changes are up to GM, but you can include Growth 2-4 with corresponding changes in strength and defenses) and he will have to make a declining Will check starting at DC25 to regain controlVulnerable: The Venom symbiote is particularly vulnerable to fire and sonic effects. He takes one additional degree of effect against fire and two degrees against sonic effects. Since Anti-Venom’s webbing is derived from himself itself, excessive use can weaken the him, rendering his powers impaired, disabled, and finally debilitated

Comments: He may not have been Venom in the 90's but Venom got huge then, so he kicks off this little 90's run. This is my first run at the requested Flash Thompson Venom. I will probably have to make changes, but this is how I remember him from when he first got the symbiote. Basically the government ripped the symbiote out of Mac Gargan and had been experimenting with it to gain control over it. Once they did, they picked Flash, who figuratively jumped at the chance to be bonded with the symbiote since it would allow him serve his country and walk again. The symbiote is kept sedated so Flash can maintain control, and they set it up where Flash can only use it on 20 missions, then he’s done. However, it looks like that might get extended since the response for Flash Venom has been pretty good.

Flash is a decorated soldier who is no strange to Black Ops, so when you the symbiote to him, he becomes a nightmare in that type of setting. I didn’t actually see him use much of the symbiotes abilities other than the enhanced abilities and morphing, but I assume he can still web sling and such like Venom always has. He generally goes hand-to-hand or uses his guns and only uses his full symbiote powers when he gets in a really bad situation, lest he risk losing control.

Last edited by Thorpacolypse on Sat Oct 13, 2012 9:09 am, edited 1 time in total.

COMPLICATIONS:Enemy: Carnage, Venom, Mr. NegativeMotivation: Taking down Mr. Negative and being seen as the hero that he believes himself to have always beenPower Loss: Without his powers, he loses all powers and his abilities drop to Str 4, STA 3, AGL 2, FGT 4Reputation: Former villain, long time flakeVulnerable: Like Venom, Anti-Venom is particularly vulnerable to fire and sonic effects. He takes one additional degree of effect against fire and two degrees against sonic effects. Since Anti-Venom’s webbing is derived from himself itself, excessive use can weaken the him, rendering his powers impaired, disabled, and finally debilitated

Comments: Eddie is the man most identified with the Venom symbiote so I guess he really should have led of the 90's run, but oh well. Eddie lost the Venom symbiote and kinda faded out for a while, then the Marvel writers got the great idea to have him get negative Venom powers from Mister Negative to become Anti-Venom. All the powers of Venom, but with the added power of being able to “cure” people, including saving junkies of the poisons in their systems, people dying of foreign-agent based diseases and of course, people with foreign-agent based powers like Spidey.

It wasn’t too bad of a gimmick for Eddie, but I’m glad they ended it in Spider-Island. I like him now where he is hunting the symbiotes as more of old crazy Eddie.

COMPLICATIONS:Enemy: Spider-Man, Venom, Anti-VenomInsanity: Cletus was already a pretty whacked out serial killer before the symbiote attached and now he is just an evil murder machinePower Loss: Without his powers, he loses all powers and his abilities drop to STR 3, STA 4, AGL 2, FGT 7Vulnerable: The Carnage symbiote is particularly vulnerable to fire and sonic effects. He takes one additional degree of effect against fire and two degrees against sonic effects. Since Anti-Venom’s webbing is derived from himself itself, excessive use can weaken the him, rendering his powers impaired, disabled, and finally debilitated

Build Comments: I never really got Carnage but I figured since I was working on Eddie and Flash, I might as well whip him up. He’s basically the same as Venom, but he’s stronger, regenerates better and a bit more deadly overall. But the whole serial killer turned superhuman serial killer doesn’t do much for me. Very 90’s, for sure.

Secret Origins: Cletus Kasady had a troubled childhood. He killed his grandmother by pushing her down a flight of stairs, and tortured his mother's dog. Afterward, his father apparently killed his mother, and received no defense from Kasady during his trial. As an orphan, Kasady was sent to the St. Estes Home for Boys, where his antisocial behavior made him the target of abuse from both the other orphans and the staff. Kasady gained revenge by murdering the disciplinarian administration, pushing a girl who refused a date with him in front of a bus and burning down the orphanage.

Homicidal maniac Cletus Kasady was serving eleven consecutive prison terms when an opportunity for early parole presented itself in the form of his new cell mate: Eddie Brock, human host to a symbiotic costume once worn by Peter Parker. Monster and man had merged to become the villainous Edward Brock Venom, but Brock was separated from the alien during a battle with the web-slinger. While Brock waited for the symbiote to spring him from prison, Kasady entertained him with his homicidal philosophy on life: Even the average person can commit murder, if only he has the courage.

As anticipated, the Venom symbiote attempted to free Brock by inciting a destructive jailbreak. Unknown to its human host, the alien was pregnant. It gave birth during the disastrous rescue. Left behind in the midst of the riot that ensued, the symbiote's spawn bonded with Kasady. Empowered far beyond the levels of Spider-Man and Venom, he escaped prison, and began a series of murders, and at the scene of each crime, he wrote "Carnage Rules" on the walls with his own blood.

The Story so Far: Embarking on a citywide killing spree, Carnage was confronted by Spider-Man. However, the wall-crawler's amazing arachnid-like abilities were insufficient to subdue the thrice-strong serial killer[1]. Spider-Man was forced to enlist the aid of the Fantastic Four, the greatest team of superhuman adventurers ever assembled. He also sought the assistance of another, more dangerous ally: Venom, his hated foe. But the villain despised its offspring even more, and agreed to help. Facing the combined might of Spider-Man, Venom and the Fantastic Four, Carnage was captured and imprisoned at the Ravencroft Asylum.

After a battle with Venom, Carnage, was about to give birth to another symbiote, he was threatened by its existence and attempted to destroy it. However, Venom wanted to raise and train the new symbiote as an ally and partner. Weakened by the actual birthing, Carnage was unable to kill the newborn. Supplanting the symbiote in Patrick Mulligan, a New York City cop. Venom named the new symbiote Toxin, after himself. Because they knew how powerful Toxin will be, and because his host is a cop, he would most likely be a good guy, thus they made a temporally alliance, but in the end they were defeated.

Despite seemingly being killed when he was ripped apart in low space orbit by The Sentry, Carnage has returned to continue to wreak havoc on the world.

Characterization: Carnage and Cletus were always like minded; they both share a love of killing. Cletus Kasady is in complete control of the symbiote, unlike Eddie Brock who still puts up some fights with his own alien. Unlike Venom, Carnage refers to himself as "I" instead of "we" because Kasady and Carnage have become one being literally to the point that the symbiote lives in his blood. Perhaps due in part to his insanity, Carnage's strength and abilities far exceed those of his predecessors Venom and Spider-Man, and grows with his blood-lust.

Friends and Foes: He has a desire to destroy the other symbiotes and their owners, so he has a great enmity towards Spider-Man, Venom, Anti-Venom and the others.

[b]Clean Up 12/12/13:[b] Cletus goes to PL12.

Last edited by Thorpacolypse on Sun Feb 09, 2014 8:22 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Not only shalt thou ALL HAIL THE 90'S but bow in reverance to the man, er, THE MAIN MAN that has, and will always be considered the true essence of J-Mart!!! If ya don't, by Feetal's Gizzard, you're all gettin' FRAGGED!

COMPLICATIONS:Enemy: The Main Man might have pissed off a few people in his day, and vice versa, but he really has it in for Deadpool.Feetal’s Gizz!: Lobo’s got a temper.Honor: The Main Man’s word is his bond.My Fishies!: Lobo has a soft spot for his space dolphins and Al and Darlene, the folks who run his favorite intergalactic diner.Reputation: The Main Man: Lobo’s reputation and a trail of dead bodies precede him.Thrills: The Main Man LOVES a good brawl, with anyone, anywhere and especially if there's some dough riding on it.

Build Comments: Now you all know if I was rebuilding DCA builds, I couldn’t resist tweaking the Main Man for my setting. I was really surprised he was only PL13 in the DCA build, but he’s another character you can build at just about any PL and be right. Sometimes Superman can’t put him down, sometimes Batman can knock him out with one punch, sometimes he can lift a whole bar, sometimes he struggles to lift a car. Depends on the writers, I guess.

I just kept the same PL, but made him harder to put down, which the way I like him. I also added a few things that got missed. So he's as tough as Superman, regenerates like Wolverine and keeps the mayhem coming like the Scourge of the Cosmos that he is. So bring it on ya bastiches! Let the fraggin' begin!

Secret Origins: Lobo is the last survivor of the tranquil, peace loving Czarnian (Velorpian in Giffen's Omega Men) race. Pacifism, however, was not in Lobo's nature. He bit off the midwife's fingers, frightened a delivery nurse to death and attacked staff with scalpels at his own birth. His name is Khundian for "he who devours your entrails and thoroughly enjoys it." The carnage was only just beginning, Lobo killed every person charged with overseeing him until he decided to kill every last Czarnian. With his genocide complete, he decided to become a bounty hunter.

The Story so Far: In his travels around the universe, Lobo has frequently found himself either on Earth or encountering its heroes. Lobo is rarely diplomatic and these encounters often become violent. Lobo's first trip to Earth, as well as many later encounters, saw him clash with Superman. As both of them are immensely powerful and unable to decisively beat the other, Superman usually has to find a way to appease Lobo before the damage (and the death toll) gets too severe.

He’s also had run-ins with the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Green Lantern Corps, the Red Lantern Corps, the Nova Corps, Gladiator, the Silver Surfer, Beta Ray Bill and most likely countless others.

Characterization: As a bounty hunter Lobo will take up any contract if the money's right. Whether it be his fourth grade teacher, Santa Claus, or God himself, Lobo will get the job done. He has been barred from Heaven and Hell, effectively making him immortal by default. His speech is peppered with (what Detective Comics hoped was) family friendly profanity such as "frag" and "bastich."

He is not all that bad though, as he's always true to his word and a conservationist of Space Dolphins.

Friends and Foes: Lobo doesn’t really have any allies, just his space dolphins that he loves. He has run afoul of many beings across the universe, but most try to avoid him because…well, he’s Lobo.

Due to his inability to beat Superman, Lobo will often challenge him in an effort to finally prove he is better. He also has never been able to defeat Deadpool so he wants to pound that little bastich, too.

Last edited by Thorpacolypse on Wed Feb 05, 2014 5:07 pm, edited 3 times in total.

<3 the 90s. That was my formative decade and the time I was most into comics. Pulling monthlies and the like. I must gotten like every Venom miniseries they put out. Now I realize how ridiculous it was. But back then... hooboy. I loved how ridiculous it was.

COMPLICATIONS:Enemy: Apocalypse, Strife, BishopMan out of Time: Sometimes Nate has problems dealing with being in the past that could shape his futureObsession: Preventing the future mutant holocaustPrejudice: MutantRelationships: He will defend Hope Summers to his last breath and he is getting closer to his father, Scott Summers (Cyclops)

Comments: As 90’s as he was and still can be, I like Cable. I thought some of X-Sanction showed what he was really capable of as he pretty much had the Avengers down for the count because he knew they would be the force that could determine Hope’s fate. At the end of that, I guess she healed his TO Virus but he’s in a coma. I’m sure he will come back full bore, with god-level telekinesis probably, at some point in AvX, though.

However, I like him with no TK so that’s how I built him. I might build him with his full TK for the heck of it, though. And of course, I had to build his Bodyslide the way it was for a while where he could only use it with Deadpool, which was pretty funny.

Last edited by Thorpacolypse on Sun Aug 18, 2013 9:24 am, edited 4 times in total.